Lucky's Market

Lucky's Market is an American supermarket chain started in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 2003 by Bo and Trish Sharon, the chain focuses primarily on organic food. From 2016 to 2019, the company was partially owned by the Kroger supermarket chain. At its peak in 2019, the company had 39 stores in ten states. The withdrawal of financial support from Kroger at the end of 2019 led to a massive company downsizing to just six surviving stores in four states and a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing in 2020.

This article is about the Colorado-based organic foods supermarket chain. For the California-based supermarket chain, see Lucky Stores.
Lucky's Market
TypePrivate
IndustryRetail
Founded2003 (2003) in Boulder, Colorado
FoundersBo and Trish Sharon
Headquarters
Niwot, Colorado
,
U.S.
Number of locations
6 stores (2020)
Area served
Colorado, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri
ProductsSupermarket
OwnerBo and Trish Sharon
Websiteluckysmarket.com

History

Bo Sharon and his wife Trish Sharon founded Lucky's Market in Boulder, Colorado in 2003. The two had taken over a grocery store then known as the North Boulder Market, and renovated it. The couple chose to make a store focusing primarily on organic food. After operating their first store for 10 years, they then opened a second store in Longmont, Colorado in August 2013.[1][2] The company is one of the few businesses that encourage its patrons to drink while they shop by selling craft beer by the pint and providing cup holders built into the shopping carts.[3][4]

Rapid expansion outside of Colorado

The first expansion beyond Colorado was in Columbus, Ohio in October 2013, the third store in the chain.[5] Supermarket News described the store's format as "value-priced natural and organic foods served in a hip and playful atmosphere targeting foodies". Many stores allow customers to sample craft beers while shopping.[6]

Lucky's opened its first store in the state of Missouri, the fourth in the chain, in January 2014 in Columbia, the home of the University of Missouri.[7] A second Missouri store, the seventh in the chain, was opened in the St. Louis suburb of Ellisville in July 2014.[8] A third Missouri store opened in Springfield in November 2017.[9]

Lucky's opened its first store in the state of Montana in March 2014 in Billings, the fifth in the chain.[10][11] A second Montana store was opened four years later in Missoula in May 2018.[12] Both stores were eventually closed in February 2020.

Lucky's opened its first and only store in the state of Kentucky, its sixth in the nation, in May 2014 in Louisville by holding a "bacon cutting" ceremony.[13][14]

The company opened its first store in the state of Michigan in February 2015 in the university town of Ann Arbor.[15] A second Michigan store was opened in Traverse City in January 2017.[16]

The company opened its first store in the state of Wyoming in March 2015 in Jackson.[17]

Lucky's opened is first and only store in the state of Indiana was opened in May 2015 in Bloomington.[18]

The company's first and only store in the state of Iowa was opened in June 2015 in Iowa City[19] only to close in March 2019 after a very brief existence of less than four years.[20]

The company opened its first and only store in the state of Georgia was opened in July 2015 in Savannah.[21]

Investment by Kroger

Lucky's expanded into Florida in 2016, and had eight stores in the state by late 2017. Their expansion coincided with expansions in the state from competing chains such as Sprouts Farmers Market and Earth Fare.[22]

The Kroger Co. made a large investment in Lucky's Market in April 2016.[23] This investment has allowed the chain to accelerate the rate of store opening and the chain planned to open 50 stores in Florida by 2020. At the time of the announcement, Lucky's Market had 17 stores in 13 states that were located in the Midwest and Southeast United States.[23]

A second Ohio store was opened in Cleveland in May 2018.[24]

In January 2019, Lucky's opened their fifth and possibly last store in Colorado in Fort Collins.[25]

In August 2019, Lucky's started to distribute Kroger's Simple Truth private label organic products.[26]

In December 2019, Kroger announced that it was divesting its business of the chain.[27] In its third-quarter earnings report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Kroger reported that "it was taking a $238 million impairment charge on the investment, including a $107 million net loss attributable to its minority interest in the Lucky's chain".[28] It was later revealed in papers filed with the bankruptcy court that Kroger had owned 55% of the chain.[29]

Mass store closings and later bankruptcy filing

On January 21, 2020, Lucky's Market announced that it was closing 20 of its 21 locations in Florida, leaving only the store in West Melbourne. Liquidation sales began the next day, January 22, and had continued up to February 12. No announcement was made concerning the fate of the 14 stores in Florida that were under construction at the time of the announcement.[30] A store that was planned for opening in Spring 2021 in Denver, Colorado was cancelled the same day.[31] Additional sources indicate that there are plans to close as many as 32 stores in 10 states, leaving the chain with only 7 stores remaining, an 82% reduction.[32][33] At the time of the closing announcement, Lucky's had stores in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Ohio and Wyoming. The store closings across the U.S. includes the company's complete withdrawal from the states of Georgia,[34] Indiana,[35] Kentucky,[36] Montana,[37] and Wyoming.[38] Further closings of the remaining stores at a later date has not entirely ruled out at the time of the announcement. The stores that were kept open were located in North Boulder and Fort Collins in Colorado; Traverse City in Michigan; West Melbourne in Florida; Cleveland and Columbus in Ohio; and Columbia in Missouri.[39]

Six days later, it was announced on January 27 that Lucky's Market had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy[40] and was to sell the leases on five stores to Publix and six stores to Aldi, all of which are located in Florida.[29][41] From information obtain from Lucky's bankruptcy filing, the company reported assets between $100 million and $500 million with liabilities between $500 million and $1 billion, and has between 10,001 and 25,000 creditors.[42] Documents filed as part of the bankruptcy also reveal that the seven remaining stores are to be sold to an undisclosed party, later announced to be a new company led by founders Bo and Trish Sharon.[43][44] A few days later on February 4, it was announced that the West Melbourne store that had been set to remain open was instead to close, leaving the company with only 6 stores and withdrawn completely from Florida.[45] At this time it was also announced that along with the stores sold to Publix and Aldi, 5 stores had been sold to Winn-Dixie as well as one each to Hitchcock's Market and Seabra's Foods, all of which are located in Florida.[46]

The company's financial performance in the year just prior to its bankruptcy filing was dismal. For the company's fiscal year ending in January 2020, Lucky's Market reported an approximately $100 million net loss along with a 10.6% drop in sales at stores that were open for at least year.[47]

References
  1. Parks, Andrew (July 2016). "This Couple Trusted Their Gut to Reinvent an Organic Grocery Store". Entrepreneur. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  2. Utterback, Chris (August 14, 2013). "Longmont gets lucky with a new Lucky's Market, opening today". Westword.
  3. Tatham, Chelsea (June 5, 2018). "Beer while you shop, award-winning bacon and 5 more things to know about Lucky's Market: The new store at Tyrone Square Mall opens Wednesday with a bacon-cutting ceremony". WTSP.
  4. "Lucky's Market now sells $2 beer pints to grocery shoppers". Booth Newspapers. January 19, 2019.
  5. Eaton, Dan (October 21, 2013). "Lucky's Market founder sees safe bet in Columbus". Columbus Business First. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  6. Springer, Jon (December 8, 2016). "Lucky's CEO forecasts additional new sites in 2017". Supermarket News.
  7. Jost, Ashley (January 15, 2014). "Lucky's Market appears as oasis in Columbia's ‚'food desert'". Columbia Daily Tribune.
  8. "Lucky's Market Opening in Ellisville Wednesday". Feast Magazine. July 24, 2014.
  9. "Lucky's Market announces new grand opening for Springfield store". KYTV (TV). November 16, 2017.
  10. "Lucky's; grand opening is Wednesday". Billings Gazette. March 11, 2014.
  11. Howard, Tom (March 12, 2014). "A store with sizzle: Lucky's Market opens Billings specialty grocery store". Billings Gazette.
  12. Erickson, David (May 1, 2018). "New Lucky's Market grocery store opens at Southgate Mall with huge deli, sushi bar". Missoulian.
  13. "Lucky's Market holds "bacon cutting" ceremony to open its doors". WDRB. May 14, 2014.
  14. "Natural foods grocery to open". Louisville Courier-Journal. May 13, 2014.
  15. "Lucky's Market opens Ann Arbor store". Detroit Free Press. February 24, 2015.
  16. Urban, Mark (January 18, 2017). "Lucky's Market to open March 22: Manager moving from Ann Arbor grocery store". Traverse City Record-Eagle.
  17. Anderson, Richard (March 17, 2015). "Jackson gets Lucky's". Jackson Hole News and Guide.
  18. "Lucky's Market Opens In Bloomington". WFIU. May 20, 2015.
  19. Davis, Andy (June 29, 2015). "Shoppers get a taste of Lucky's Market". Iowa City Press-Citizen.
  20. "Lucky's Market Iowa City to close in March". The Gazette (Cedar Rapids). February 11, 2019.
  21. "Lucky's Market Opening in Savannah Georgia". Savannah Tribune. July 1, 2015.
  22. Griffin, Justine (February 10, 2017). "Lucky's Market plans further expansion into Florida this year". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  23. "Kroger & Lucky's Market Announce Strategic Partnership". PR Newswire (Press release). April 1, 2016.
  24. "Lucky's Market opens second store in Ohio at Cleveland's Shoppes on Clifton (photos)". Cleveland Plain Dealer. May 15, 2018.
  25. Ferrier, Pat (January 31, 2019). "Lucky's Market will open Fort Collins store in March". Fort Collins Coloradoan.
  26. Browne, Michael (August 27, 2019). "Lucky's adds Kroger's Simple Truth private label: Natural food retailer will carry organic product line". Supermarket News.
  27. Nickle, Ashley (December 5, 2019). "Kroger to divest itself in Lucky's Market". Produce Retailer. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  28. Hurtibise, Ron (January 16, 2020). "Can Lucky's Market survive loss of grocer partner Kroger?". Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel.
  29. Stepzinski, Teresa (January 28, 2020). "Publix plans to buy Lucky's Market in Neptune Beach, 4 other sites as specialty grocery files for bankruptcy". Florida Times-Union.
  30. Hurtibise, Ron (January 21, 2020). "Lucky's Market closing all but one Florida store". The Sun Sentinel. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  31. Ritter, Cassidy (January 21, 2020). "Lucky's Market nixes first planned Denver location". BusinessDen.
  32. Goldschmidt, Bridget (January 21, 2020). "Lucky's Closing 32 Stores, Laying Off Associates". Progressive Grocer. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  33. Tyko, Kelly (January 21, 2020). "Lucky's Market reportedly closing the majority of its stores, including 20 Florida locations". USA Today.
  34. "Lucky's Market in Savannah closing". WTOC-TV. January 21, 2020.
  35. Hogan, Jeremy (January 21, 2020). "Bloomington Lucky's Market to close permanently". The Bloomingtonian.
  36. "Lucky's Market closing its only Louisville location". WLKY. January 21, 2020.
  37. Erickson, David (January 21, 2020). "Missoula Lucky's Market to close". Missoulian.
  38. Dorsey, Jennifer (January 21, 2020). "Lucky's Market to close Feb. 12". Jackson Hole News & Guide.
  39. "Lucky's Market confirms store closures, keeping just 2 Colorado locations: Locations in Longmont, South Boulder and Wheat Ridge locations will shutter their doors". KUSA (TV). January 22, 2020.
  40. DiNatale, Sara (January 27, 2020). "Lucky's Market to sell 11 stores to Aldi and Publix as it files for bankruptcy". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved January 28, 2020.
  41. Redman, Russell (January 28, 2020). "Lucky's Market fields bids for stores from Aldi, Publix: Specialty grocer to close 32 stores, keep 7 locations". Supermarket News.
  42. High, Lucas (January 27, 2020). "Colorado-based grocery chain Lucky's Market files for bankruptcy: Boulder-born and Niwot-headquartered natural-grocery chain filed a series of Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions Monday". Denver Post.
  43. Hurtibise, Ron (January 29, 2020). "Mystery solved: Here's why Lucky's keeping only 7 stores open". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  44. Leonard, Suzy (January 29, 2020). "Lucky's Market founders announce plans to buy West Melbourne store and six others". Florida Today. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  45. Leonard, Suzy (February 4, 2020). "Luck runs out for Lucky's Market in West Melbourne; mayor says store will close". Florida Today. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  46. "Southeastern Grocers to open Winn-Dixie stores at five closing Lucky's Markets". Jacksonville Daily Record. February 4, 2020. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  47. Meyersohn, Nathaniel (January 28, 2020). "This grocery store wanted to compete with Whole Foods. Now it's going bankrupt". CNN.
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